In a brand new interview conducted during OPETH's U.K. tour, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson was asked if he and his bandmates have commenced the songwriting process for the follow-up to 2016's "Sorceress" album. "In a way, yes, I would say," he replied (see video below). "This is the last run we do [in support of 'Soreceress'], and then we have a break. We might play some festivals during the summer, but before that, there's no gigs. So it's a bit of a break, but also starting to write for a new album, absolutely. So we'll see how that goes. But nothing is… no direction is settled yet or anything like that."

Pressed about whether the members of OPETH ever write any music on the road, Fredrik said: "For me personally, I sit around and play a lot of guitar during the day, and sometimes you come up with a little melody or a little riff or something, and I just record it in my voice memory in the phone. So small stuff like that. But it's not… Working-on-a-song kind of thing rarely happens on the road. Especially for Mike [OPETH guitarist/vocalist and main songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt], I know he needs to be in his bubble, you know. So that's why we wanna take a break now as well, because for him, also, it's important to don't have to think about the shows or anything like that, just focus on coming up with new material."

Åkerfeldt recently told Eonmusic that he was hoping OPETH's next album would be "something different" and "something twisted." He added that the record would likely arrive by mid-to-late 2019. "I want to have a sabbatical, because we've been doing this for a long time, so I want to keep away and just be with my kids," he said. "Once I write songs, I want to sit and be."

"Sorceress" was released in September 2016. For the band's first effort for Nuclear Blast via OPETH's imprint label Moderbolaget Records, the group returned to Rockfield Studios in Wales, also home to pivotal releases from QUEEN, RUSH and JUDAS PRIEST, where the Swedes had tracked "Pale Communion" in 2014 with Tom Dalgety.

“I didn’t get into music because I wanted to be a big success…I originally went after music because I simply loved it. There wasn’t anything else for me. Nothing moved me like music did, and my hope had always been to move people as I had been moved.” — Neal Morse
 
Truer words never spoken by Morse, who will prove his own personal theory right with his latest solo album, Life & Times, which will be released February 16th on Radiant Records via Metal Blade Records/SONY on all digital outlets, as well as CD and vinyl. Preorders will be available on Radiant Records’ website starting December 12th.
 
Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading progressive rock (“prog”) musicians, there is now no doubt that Neal Morse is a “big success,” but his desire to move people through his music burns brighter than ever. Now in his mid-fifties and his children grown up, there is a sense on Life & Times that Morse is looking around and taking stock.

 
“I’ve come through a lot of difficult times and I’m in a fairly content place now,” he says. “You can feel that on some of the songs.” Much of this ‘acoustic-orientated, singer/songwriter’ album was written while he was travelling around the world on The Road Called Home tour in 2017, with some of the songs being inspired by the places he visited, while others are from spending time with his family.
 
For example, “Manchester By The Sea” is a musical portrait of that notorious rarity—a sunny day in Manchester, England—when Morse was sitting in a coffee shop watching the world go by. “Selfie In The Square” captures what he saw walking around Luxembourg City, hearing the cathedral bells and children playing, but realizing what a difference it makes to share these experiences. “Luxembourg was really nice, but I knew that if my wife was there, it would feel like a holiday, so I wrote a song about it to send to her,” he explains.
 
Some of these slice-of-life portraits also resonate with other people’s heartaches, such as “JoAnna,” which focuses on Morse’s son dealing with the loss of a relationship and— most poignantly—“He Died At Home,” about a mother’s grief over the loss of her soldier son. As Morse says, “I had been praying for a roommate of a friend of mine, who was a troubled ex-military guy. The day we were playing in Paris, I woke up to a text saying that sadly, he had died. As I began formulating ideas for a song about him, I remembered that many years ago, I had been at a meeting at a military base in Tennessee. They asked us to pray for their men because almost every week they were going to the funeral of those who had ‘died at home.’”
 
The power of the song that Morse eventually crafted has moved people in ways that he could never have imagined: “Because of the idea for the song, I was researching soldier suicides online and found an article about a young soldier named William Busbee. He came back from Afghanistan in 2012, and then committed suicide. The video director contacted Libby Busbee, his mother, who listened to the song and was so moved that she is contributing photos of William to put in a video we’ll be sharing very soon.” The song also had quite an impact when it was premiered at Morsefest 2017, where it was very much the talk of the festival.
 
Born in 1960 to a musical Californian family, Morse played in many bands during his youth. He learned and mastered several instruments along the way. In 1995, he wrote and recorded The Light with his new band, Spock’s Beard. It was an album grounded strongly in the then-unfashionable progressive rock genre. The album and title song became modern prog classics, and began to bring Morse and the band global recognition. In 2000, he also joined forces with Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater), Pete Trewavas (Marillion) and Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings) to form Transatlantic, a prog supergroup that went on to win the PROG Magazine Award for “Album of the Year.”
 
Neal Morse’s solo work has focused almost entirely on music with a strong message of redemption, beginning with 2003’s Testimony—a two-disc musical account of his spiritual journey--and most recently with The Neal Morse Band’s PROG Magazine Award nominee, The Similitude Of A Dream, based on John Bunyan’s classic allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress.
 
In touring news, Morse is hoping to move more people with these songs at some “absolutely solo” shows in cafes and small venues throughout the U.S. and Europe in 2018.

 

One-time "The X Factor" contestant Jeff Gutt made his live debut as STONE TEMPLE PILOTS' new vocalist during a SiriusXM special event on Tuesday, November 14 at the Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles.

Professionally filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

A new STP single, titled "Meadow", was serviced to radio last week and was performed live for the first time during the Troubadour show.

Gutt, who was a runner-up in the reality TV music competition show's third season, originally auditioned for STP in September 2016 and became an official member of the band in May 2017. He has spent the last year secretly writing and recording new material with bandmembers Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz.

Robert DeLeo said that he first found out about Gutt while he was on the road with the HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES. Robert explained: "We were playing ... up in Detroit, which is where [Jeff is] from. And after the show, there was a musician who said, 'Hey, man, you should check this guy out.' And that's where I kind of heard of him first."

Gutt recalled how he got to audition for the band, saying: "I can't remember what song it was, but a STONE TEMPLE PILOTS song came on the radio. So I called my buddy in New York who knows everybody in the music industry, and I was like, 'Hey, did they ever find a singer?' And he was like, 'You know what? I'll send 'em your stuff right now.' And three days later, I got a call."

Gutt added that he felt like he had the job before even trying out, explaining: "You have to be confident . . . I know what I'm doing. I've studied my craft. I've studied [original STP singer] Scott [Weiland] and the people Scott studied, and other singers of the era. I've really put in a lot of time into that, and if you're not willing to do all of that, you're not gonna be on the level to even be around these guys."

Gutt appeared on "The X Factor" in 2013, where he impressed the judges with his covers of songs like "Creep", "Dream On" and "Hallelujah".

STP had been without a vocalist since November 2015, when Chester Bennington — who joined the group in early 2013 — departed to spend more time with his main band LINKIN PARK. Bennington committed suicide last July.

Scott Weiland, who reunited with the group in 2010 after an eight-year hiatus but was dismissed in 2013, died in December 2015 of a drug overdose while on a solo tour.

"All That Once Shined", the new video from BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's upcoming tenth full-length album, "Grimmest Hits", which will be released January 19, 2018 via Entertainment One (eOne). The clip was directed by BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's longtime collaborator Justin Reich.

Both "All That Once Shined" and "Room Of Nightmares" are available on all digital service providers and streaming services. They are also iTunes instant-gratification tracks, meaning fans who pre order the album on iTunes will receive "All That Once Shined" and "Room Of Nightmares" as an instant download.

"Grimmest Hits" track listing:

01. Trampled Down Below02. Seasons Of Falter03. The Betrayal04. All That Once Shined05. The Only Words06. Room Of Nightmares07. A Love Unreal08. Disbelief09. The Day That Heaven Had Gone Away10. Illusions Of Peace11. Bury Your Sorrow12. Nothing Left To Say

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY will embark on a North American tour this winter in support of its upcoming album, "Grimmest Hits". Joining them on the trek will be CORROSION OF CONFORMITY on all dates, with EYEHATEGOD and RED FANG appearing at select shows.

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's latest studio album, "Catacombs Of The Black Vatican", sold around 26,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 5 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Prior to the release of "Catacombs Of The Black Vatican", BLACK LABEL SOCIETY amicably parted ways with longtime guitarist Nick Catanese and replaced him with Dario Lorina (LIZZY BORDEN).

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY is:

Zakk Wylde - Vocals/GuitarJohn DeServio - BassDario Lorina - GuitarJeff Fabb - Drums

Swedish death metallers AMON AMARTH have partnered with Swedish video game developer and publisher Ride & Crash Games AB to unleash a new mobile video game.

The Game. You are Thor and your mission is simple: cleanse Midgard from all of the vile creatures that are threatening the (*ahem*) peaceful Viking way of life. There are three keys to ensure your success:

(1) your hammer, Mjolnir; (2) your control of the freakin' thunder and lightning!; and (3) your fighting spirit is always high thanks to AMON AMARTH's epic music in retro style blasting from over the horizons and into your ears.

The unique game features four worlds, four epic battles, 12 unique levels and 13 different AMON AMARTH tracks with retro video game sounds!

The game is available worldwide to the public for iOS and Android phones and tablets for a retail price of $8.99. This link redirects the mobile or tablet user to their correct app store.

The idea for the game was conceived in the fall of 2015 when Robert Chirico Willstedt, a video game producer in Stockholm and founder of Ride & Crash Games AB, met AMON AMARTH. Robert and the band bonded over epic amounts of beer and a common love of video games, and they started discussing how cool it would be if they could create a video game for AMON AMARTH. There and then, the idea was born of a retro style Viking platformer with AMON AMARTH music in '80s-sounding square wave format. Robert hand-picked a team of developers and designers to realize the game concept. The band met the development team continuously during the development process to ensure the end product would stay true to the initial vision of the game.

AMON AMARTH is continuing to tour in support of its tenth studio album, "Jomsviking", which debuted at No. 19 on The Billboard 200, having shifted 21,000 equivalent album units in the week ending March 31, 2016.

"Jomsviking" was released via Metal Blade in North America and Sony Music internationally.

Black Country Communion, the Anglo-American rock group comprising vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Trapeze), drummer Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin, Foreigner), Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Alice Cooper, Billy Idol) and blues-rock guitarist/vocalist Joe Bonamassa, released their fourth album, BCCIV, via Mascot Records back in September. A new music video for the album track “Sway” can be found below.

Just like its three predecessors, BCCIV was overseen by Kevin Shirley, whose catalogue of hit records for Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, Journey, The Black Crowes, has made him the hottest producer that rock music has to offer. Shirley, who originally had the idea of putting Hughes and Bonamassa in a band after seeing them jamming together onstage in Los Angeles back in November 2009 – is the group’s unofficial ‘fifth member’.

All songs on the new album were co-written by Glenn Hughes and Joe Bonamassa.  Glenn wrote all the lyrics on the album except for the song “The Last Song For My Resting Place”, which was written by Joe.

Tracklisting:

“Collide”
“Over My Head”
“The Last Song For My Resting Place”
“Sway”
“The Cove”
“The Crow”
“Wanderlust”
“Love Remains”
“Awake”
“When The Morning Comes”
“With You I Go” (Vinyl edition bonus track)

"Sway"

“Over My Head” video:

“The Last Song For My Resting Place” video:

“Collide” video:

Black Country Communion are pleased to announce two exclusive concerts in Europe during January 2018 to support the release of their new album. The band will play Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Tuesday, January 2nd and London Hammersmith Apollo on Thursday, January 4th.

These will be the only two concerts the band will play in the UK and Europe. Tickets are available by calling 0844 844 0444, and can be booked online from www.ticketmaster.co.uk and www.eventim.co.uk.

After a couple of eventful years, Night In Gales finally return with a new album. Together with returning vocalist Christian Müller who appeared on their early works Sylphlike (1995) and Razor (1996), the melodic death metal five-piece returns to its roots and experiences a process of rejuvenation.

The Last Sunsets unleashes wild death metal with haunting melodies that evokes the early days of the melodic death metal genre. The band is supported by three guest vocalists: Mark Grewe (ex-Morgoth, Insidious Disease), Christian Mertens (Dark Millennium), und Martin Matzak (ex-Torchure). The mix and the master was done by a true scene-icon. Dan Swanö (Edge Of Sanity, ex-Bloodbath) created the perfect sound for the 12 songs which shifts between old-school and timeless. Furthermore, Costin Chioreanu’s artwork (At The Gates, Arch Enemy, Carach Angren) with its strong symbolic power fits perfect as a visual addition to the music.

The Last Sunsets will be released on February 23rd via Apostasy Records. Listen to the song "The Spears Within" below.

Tracklisting:

“The Last Sunsets”
“Dark Millennium”
“The Mortal Soul”
“The Passing”
“Architects Of Tyranny”
“The Abyss”
“The Spears Within”
“Circle Of Degeneration”
“Kingdome Of The Lost”
“Cessation”
“In Pain, In Silence”
“Dust And Form”

“The Spears Within”:

Multi-Grammy Award-winning, Golden Globe nominee Chris Cornell's theatrical version music video for his song "The Promise" has been released by Survival Pictures. "The Promise" was Cornell's last release prior to his passing, and it served as the theme song to this year's film The Promise. All proceeds from the movie are being donated to various charities. Watch the video below.

Earlier this week The Los Angeles Committee of Human Rights Watch also introduced the inaugural Promise Award, which was inspired by the film and song that powerfully depicted the atrocities committed against the Armenian people. The award recognizes an outstanding song, television show, or film that advances the values of equity and justice in an original and powerful way. Fittingly, the inaugural honor was awarded to the late legendary singer and songwriter Chris Cornell in recognition of this song.

"Chris Cornell was not only a dear family friend for many years, but he was also a once-in-a generation talent who is missed more than words can convey. It was such an honor to collaborate and partner on The Promise over the years, said Eric Esrailian, Producer of The Promise and Co-Manager for Survival Pictures.  "His music and lyrics will not only shine a light on the Armenian Genocide and the human rights crises of modern times, but they will also inspire people and provide hope for years to come."

The video was directed by Grammy Award winning director Meiert Avis (Audioslave, U2) and Stefan Smith (Madonna, Sting). "The Promise" is Cornell's last music video performance.  It also includes media donated by Academy Award nominated director Evgeny Afineesvky (HBO's Cries from Syria), UNESCO Prize for Peace Recipient SOS Méditerranée, Freshwater Films (Ross Kemp's Libya's Migrant Hell), Keo Films (Exodus:  Our Journey To Europe), Nazik Armenakyan (Survivors), Human Rights Watch, Refugee Rescue, and Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

At the time of the song's release Cornell said, "The Promise" to me is mainly about paying homage to those we lost in the Armenian Genocide, but it's also about shining a light on more recent atrocities. The same methods used in the Armenian genocide were used to carry out crimes against humanity in Bosnia, Darfur, Rwanda and right now in Syria on multiple fronts, contributing to a massive global refugee crisis. Unfortunately, the words 'never again' seem like just words when we recall these mass executions of the twentieth century, as well as renewed racism and prejudice around the world. Even in the US, the warning signs - isolating groups based on race and religion - are evident. We really need to tell these stories and keep telling them in as many different ways as we can. As humans, we have a tremendous capacity to trudge ahead in our lives and not look at the difficult and challenging moments... but I think it's important. Educating ourselves on the past is the best way to understand the present and avoid future atrocities by understanding and intervening. We must educate and stand as one to combat this fear and violence, and as citizens of the world, work to protect each other's human rights."

In April 2017, Cornell and his family toured refugee camps in Greece and it was there that they decided The Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation would focus its efforts on child refugees and the issues affecting them including education, health and human trafficking.

Shred lord Michael Angelo Batio, who rose to fame in the '80s with Nitro, pays tribute to Metallica in a new video showcasing his DV Mark Multiamp. Songs featured include "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "Sanitarium", "Enter Sandman", and "Master Of Puppets".

Reactivated ‘80s rockers Nitro have released their first new song since 1992 with “It Won’t Die”. Alongside original members Jim Gillette (vocals) and Michael Angelo Batio (guitars), Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler and bassist Victor Wooten are also in the fold. Check out the track below.

Joining Team Nitro is multi-Grammy Award nominee, Kane Churko, who's songwriting, producing and engineering credentials are second-to-none. Churko has worked with Ozzy Osborne, Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch, In This Moment, Hellyeah, Papa Roach and more.

In addition to producing the new Nitro album, Churko will also be contributing his songwriting talents.

"It's exciting to be part of Nitro's evolution and the opportunity to record a legendary vocalist such as Jim Gillette was not one I wanted to pass up. We've had a lot of fun working on new music together at The Hideout Recording Studio. I really think it's going to please old and new fans alike. With such a phenomenal lineup, it should be evident that Nitro is back and ready to compete with the best-of-the-best.", said Churko.

A release date for the new Nitro album, currently being recorded, is forthcoming.

Nuclear Blast Entertainment has announced the release of the new album from Tax The Heat, Change Your Position, on March 9th, 2018. The album will be available as CD and digital.

The guys took time out of their current tour with Black Star Riders and Blues Pills to record a message for fans:

Change Your Position is the follow up to the 2016 critically-acclaimed debut album Fed To The Lions. The new album sees the band take a huge step forward as both songwriters and performers. The band's unique blend of fuzz-driven rock with a modern alternative twist has won them a legion of fans. The album stamps its authority right from the off with the taut "Money In The Bank" (also the first single). From the staccato stomp of "Playing With Fire" to the huge riffs of "Cut Your Chains," from the garage rock of "On The Run" to the slow groove and instant lyrical hit of "All That Medicine". Change Your Position is a lean, focused album loaded with an energy that is set to propel the band to headline status.

The driving rhythms of Jack Taylor (drums) and Antonio Angotti (bass) are overlaid with the powerful riffs of JP Jacyshyn (guitars) and distinctive melodies of Alex Veale (vocals, guitars).

"If an album is about capturing a band or artist at a certain point, Change Your Position might have happened at the perfect time. As a band we toured, found our sound, found our place and took inspiration from a world in utter chaos. With Change Your Position we pushed ourselves creatively as hard as we could and it took us further into ourselves than we expected - we hope it's apparent to the listener." - Alex Veale

Tracklisting:

“Money In The Bank”
“Change Your Position”
“Playing With Fire”
“All That Medicine”
“On The Run”
“The Last Time”
“Taking The Hit”
“My Headspace”
“We Are Consumers”
“Cut Your Chains”
“Wearing A Disguise”
“The Symphony Has Begun”

“Money In The Bank” video:

Currently on the road in Europe with Death Angel supporting Testament, Annihilator's kick-off show on November 12th at Muziekcentrum TRIX in Antwerp, Belgium is available below in its entirety.

The setlist was as follows:

"One to Kill"
"King of the Kill"
"No Way Out"
"Set the World on Fire"
"Phantasmagoria"
"Twisted Lobotomy"
"Alison Hell"
"Human Insecticide"

Tour dates are as follows:

November
18 - Budapest, Hungary - Barba Negra *
19 - Brno, Czech Republic - Sono Centrum *
20 - Vienna, Austria - Arena *
22 - Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof *
23 - München, Germany - Backstage *
24 - Saarbrücken, Germany - Garage *
25 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA/Longhorn *
26 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Kino Siska *
27 - Nürnberg, Germany - Löwensaal *
28 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7 *
30 - Bologna, Italy - Estragon *

December
1 - Milano, Italy - Live Club *
2 - Fribourg, Switzerland - Fri-Son *
3 - Toulouse, France - Bikini *
4 - Madrid, Spain - Riviera *
6 - Lyon, France - Transbordeur *
7 - Nantes, France - Stereolux *
8 - Paris, France - Bataclan *
9 - Oberhausen, Germany - Ruhrpott Metal Meeting *
10 - Haarlem, Netherlands - Patronaat *

* with Testament & Death Angel
** with Death Angel

Check out BraveWords' latest Annihilator featur focusing on the band's new album, For The Demented, here.

Annihilator is:

Jeff Waters - vox, guitar
Fabio Alessandrini - drums
Rich Hinks - bass
Aaron Homma - guitar

German thrash titans Kreator partnered with Record Store Day to release a Black Friday exclusive. On November 24th, a limited edition (1,000 copies) of “Hail To The Hordes” on picture disc vinyl will be available exclusively at your local indie record stores.

To find a participating retailer in your area, check out the following websites:

- US
- Canada

"Hail To The Hordes" is off the bands highly-acclaimed 14th album, Gods Of Violence. It was recorded under the watchful eyes of producer Jens Bogren, who also mixed the record at renowned Fascination Street Studios. Mastering was also completed at Fascination Street Studios by Tony Lindgren.

Almanac, the symphonic metallers led by ex-Rage guitarist Victor Smolski, have released a lyric video for "Hail To The King", featured on their upcoming sophomore album, Kingslayer, out on November 24th via Nuclear Blast. Watch below.

Kingslayer was recorded with producer Andreas Herr at HeyDay Studios in Wuppertal, Germany. The cover artwork was once again created by Hungarian artist Gyula Havancsák (Accept, Destruction).

"Our second strike is complete," reveals Victor Smolski and explains, that "Kingslayer is the logical follow-up to Tsar, just more compact, heavier and faster. The experience now under our belts gained from our many live experiences, including the two tours and festivals, has been fully implemented in the studio. The band have grown closer and stronger, you can feel this unified energy within the new tracks. We took a lot of time and gave our very best. Kingslayer is a crafted metal album with a lively power sound!"

Kingslayer tracklisting:

“Regicide”
“Children Of The Sacred Path”
“Guilty As Charged”
“Hail To The King”
“Losing My Mind”
“Kingslayer”
“Kingdom Of The Blind”
“Headstrong”
“Last Farewell”
“Red Flag”

“Hail To The King” lyric video:

“Children Of The Sacred Path” video:

“Losing My Mind” video:

Trailer #1:

Trailer #2:

Trailer #3:

Trailer #4:

Babylon A.D. are one of the few hard rock bands from the late '80s/early '90s that are still operating with all of their original members: Derek Davis, vocalist/songwriter, guitarists and songwriters, John Matthews and Ron Freschi, drummer Jamey Pacheco and bassist Robb Reid. The band formed in 1987 and to celebrate their 30th anniversary, will release their new album, Revelation Highway, on November 10th.

A music video for the album track “One Million Miles” is available for streaming below.

Vocalist Derek Davis comments on the song and video, "The song, 'One Million Miles', from our Revelation Highway release is a very special song to me. I wrote the song about my wife and I shared the demo with the band and they immediately wanted to put it on the record.  It's a very emotional song and kind of reminds me of floating. The pace of the song, harmony guitar work and lyrics all tie the song together extremely well. I'm very happy with the way it turned out.
 
"The video treatment fits the songs lyrics like hand in glove. It was so awesome to be at the beach near San Francisco. The day was beautiful and the ocean view was stunning, It, really was a magical day and one of the best times we as a band ever had shooting a video. I really hope our fans will see what we see in the video and song because it is very special to us."

Derek Davis on the new album: "This record kicks ass, from the opening track 'Crash And Burn' to the last track 'Saturday Night'. The band had a blast making the album and a lot had to do with original founding member lead-guitarist John Matthews rejoining the band. He really lit the fire that got the bands blood pumping to make a new record. For me it was awesome to produce and mix such a cool record. It's very hard hitting yet melodic, with some great lyrical story telling and great stand out tracks like, 'One Million Miles', 'Tears', 'Rags To Riches, and 'She Likes To Give It'. The songs are so catchy and memorable on the first listen I know our fans are gonna love it! And of course there are some burning guitar leads to keep the metal heads happy. The band is very grateful that Frontiers Music Srl listened to the tracks and felt the same way about them as we do and offered us the opportunity to get this record out. We can't wait to hit the road and play the material live."

Featuring 10 tracks of the energetic classic hard rock the band is known for, Revelation Highway is sure to please fans of the band's classic early material. The band will play shows in the UK and Germany this August/September to kick off promotion for the album with more touring planned both in the US and UK/Europe.

Tracklisting:

“Crash And Burn”
“Fool On Fire”
“One Million Miles”
“Tears”
“She Likes To Give It”
“Rags To Riches”
“Last Time For Love”
“I'm No Good For You”
“Saturday Night”
“Don't Tell Me Tonight”

“I’m No Good For You” video:

“Rags To Riches”:

“Crash And Burn” video:

Babylon A.D. lineup:

Derek Davis - Lead Vocals, Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar
Ron Freschi - Guitars & Vocals
John Mathews - Guitars & Keyboards
Robb Reid - Bass & Vocals
James Pacheco - Drums & Percussion

Dutch symphonic metallers, Epica, kicked off their European headline tour on November 9th in Krakow, Poland. The band have now released this aftermovie from their show on November 14th in Cologne, Germany:

Find Epica's live itinerary here.

Epica will celebrate their 1,000th show anniversary on April 14th at Poppodium 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands, “the exact same venue where it all started for us 16 years ago!” Special guests for the event are Myrkur and Oceans Of Slumber.

The band recently released an official live video for “Consign To Oblivion”, filmed at the band’s sold out show in Le Zénith, Paris earlier this year.

Back in 2008, Alestorm were mere newcomers and beginners - and yet they created a modern metal classic and a completely new subgenre. Captain Morgan's Revenge marks the birth of Pirate Metal as we know it today and turned a couple of young Scotsmen into the hottest band the modern metal scene has to offer. Ten years later and sold-out shows all over the world, their boozy debut gets its well-deserved anniversary treatment and will be re-released on January 26th via Napalm Records. Watch a lyric video below for the title track, "Captain Morgan's Revenge".

Captain Morgan's Revenge - 10th Anniversary Edition has received a fresh remix and remastering by original producer Lasse Lammert at his LSD studios and will be coming with a rejuvenated artwork. Alongside the Live At Summer Breeze bonus disc, this re-release will be a true gem for all collectors, new fans and nostalgics alike!

The pirates about their upcoming Anniversary Edition: "Oh wow! Can't believe it's been 10 years already since we made this record. We were all terrible musicians back then, and it was only thanks to the immense skill of our producer Lasse Lammert that we managed to salvage a passable bunch of songs. But anyway, it seems a bunch of you people seemed to like this album, so we decided to give it a bit of spit and polish for the 10th anniversary. NO, this is not one of those shitty 'brickwall' remasters that some bands do, and NO, this is not a re-recording by a bunch of disinterested and jaded old musicians. We've taken the original multitrack source material from 10 years ago (bad playing, cheap keyboards, awful vocals and everything), and just re-mixed the whole album to be punchier, tighter, more dynamic, and more sonically delightful than before. You probably won't even notice the difference! But it's there. And it'll sound awesome on vinyl, for the first time ever!"

Captain Morgan's Revenge - 10th Anniversary Edition, coming as CD digi pack, LP gatefold and digital download, is now available for pre-order here.

Tracklisting:

CD1
“Over The Seas”
“Captain Morgan's Revenge”
“The Huntmaster”
“Nancy The Tavern Wench”
“Death Before The Mast”
“Terror On The High Seas”
“Set Sail And Conquer”
“Of Treasure”
“Wenches & Mead”
“Flower Of Scotland”

CD2 (Bonus Disc)
“Actual Human Intro” (Live at Summer Breeze 2015)
“Walk The Plank” (Live at Summer Breeze 2015)
“The Sunk'n Norwegian” (Live at Summer Breeze 2015)
“Shipwrecked” (Live at Summer Breeze 2015)
“Magnetic North” (Live at Summer Breeze 2015)
“That Famous Ol' Spiced” (Live at Summer Breeze 2015)
“Nancy The Tavern Wench” (Live at Summer Breeze 2015)
“Keelhauled” (Live at Summer Breeze 2015)
“Rumpelkombo” (Live at Summer Breeze 2015)
“Drink” (Live at Summer Breeze 2015)
“Captain Morgan's Revenge” (Live at Summer Breeze 2015)

"Captain Morgan's Revenge" lyric video:

Swedish death metallers, Entrails,have just released a digital single entitled "Death Is The Right Path" The single features two exclusive tracks that are only digitally available.

Entrails comments: "If World Inferno wasn't enough and your necks haven't turned loose after massive headbanging, Entrails will now fulfill that with two new songs to make the World Inferno complete!"

Death Is The Right Path tracklisting:

"Death Is The Right Path"
"Blood Burst"

Check them out at this location.

GUNS N' ROSES paid tribute to AC/DC's Malcolm Young during a concert in California, dedicating covers of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and "Whole Lotta Rosie" to the iconic guitarist who died this weekend.

Singer Axl Rose introduced the Bob Dylan classic by telling the audience last night at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento: "We're gonna dedicate this to Mr. Malcolm Young, who will be sorely missed by none more than his brother Angus."

GUNS N' ROSES followed up "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" with a version of the AC/DC classic that has been a regular part of GN'R concerts for the past few months.

Malcolm's brother, fellow AC/DC legend Angus Young, joined GUNS N' ROSES on stage several times during the "Not In This Lifetime" tour, including at the Coachella festival in April 2016.

Malcolm Young died on Saturday (November 18) surrounded by family after a long battle with dementia.

He was replaced in AC/DC by Stevie Young, nephew of Malcolm and Angus Young.

Axl Rose did a string of European and North American concerts with AC/DC in 2016, mostly to fan and critical acclaim.

It is unknown whether Rose will continue singing with AC/DC. The band's future remains in doubt after the band completed its world tour in support of 2014's "Rock Or Bust", a cycle that saw a massive turnover in the group's personnel. Sole original member Angus Young has not yet indicated whether the group will continue recording and touring.

In March 2016, AC/DC's singer of 35 years, Brian Johnson, had to leave the band's North American tour after doctors told him he might lose his hearing, while 40-year bassist Cliff Williams announced his retirement at the rescheduled trek's conclusion.

The lineup that completed the tour consisted of Williams, Angus Young, Rose, Chris Slade on drums and Angus's nephew Stevie Young on guitar.

Photo credit: Katarina Benzova

German metallers MYSTIC PROPHECY will release a covers album, "Monuments Uncovered", on January 12, 2018 via Massacre Records.

Singer Roberto Dimitri Liapakis comments: "This album is like a love letter to the music that accompanied so many of us, myself included, in the '70s, '80s and '90s — and believe me, you have not heard the songs like this before! I'm also really excited to show you a new and different side of MYSTIC PROPHECY!"

The album was produced by Liapakis and MYSTIC PROPHECY at the Prophecy Studios, and mixed and mastered by Henrik Udd at Udd Recording Studios (ARCHITECTS, HAMMERFALL, BRING ME THE HORIZON, AT THE GATES, DELAIN). Dušan Markovic created the album's cover artwork.

MYSTIC PROPHECY's "Monuments Uncovered" will also be available as a limited-edition digipak with an exclusive bonus track as well as limited vinyl LP.

"Monuments Uncovered" track listing:

01. You Keep Me Hangin' On (KIM WILDE/THE SUPREMES cover)02. Hot Stuff (DONNA SUMMER cover)03. Shadow On The Wall (MIKE OLDFIELD cover)04. Are You Gonna Go My Way (LENNY KRAVITZ cover)05. I'm Still Standing (ELTON JOHN cover)06. Because The Night (PATTI SMITH cover)07. Space Lord (MONSTER MAGNET cover)08. Get It On (T.REX cover)09. Toyko (TOKYO cover)10. Proud Mary (CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL cover)11. The Stroke (BILLY SQUIER cover) (digipak bonus track)

MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson returned to his former hometown of Jackson, Minnesota on Saturday, November 18 for a special end-of-the-year/birthday celebration at Kat's Hog Heaven, the newest Ellefson Coffee Co. retail location. Located at 608 2nd St, Kat's is the pride of Jackson, serving a full BBQ dining menu, and now serving and selling Ellefson Coffee Co. coffee and merchandise. Additionally, Kat's is displaying various items from Ellefson's Museum Of Deth, featuring memorabilia from Ellefson's life and career.

Also appearing was legendary rocker Ron Keel, whose RON KEEL BAND has signed a deal with EMP Outlaw, the new southern rock/outlaw country imprint of Ellefson's EMP Label Group. Keel performed and took part in a special meet-and-greet with Ellefson.

The event also marked the release of Ellefson Coffee Co.'s Jackson House Blend, a conservatively priced entry-level addition to the ECC coffee lineup.

Video footage of Ellefson and RON KEEL BAND performing an acoustic cover version of MEGADETH's "Symphony Of Destruction" at yesterday's celebration can be seen below.

"You miss a lot of what a town really is when you just drive by on a four-lane interstate," Ellefson told WCCO about the importance of bringing the Ellefson Coffee Co. brand back to his hometown. "So part of what our venture is here is to partner with the local businesses so we can bring people off the local freeway to bring them in to really get and feel the heart and soul of the people."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH was joined by an elderly lady on stage during the band's concert in Oslo, Norway.

The American heavy metal outfit was performing the song "Jekyll and Hyde" at the Oslo Spektrum last night (Saturday, November 18) when singer Ivan Moody motioned for a special guest on the side of the stage to step out and stand alongside him and his bandmates.

After enthusiastically accepting the invitation, the woman ended up spending three minutes on stage with the members of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, dancing and playing air guitar to the track. She closed out her appearance by having her arms raised by bassist Chris Kael in appreciation of her efforts before getting a warm hug from Moody.

The band later tweeted a video of the joint performance, writing in an accompanying caption: "Highlight of the night... Special Guest 'Heavy Metal Grandma' - we found this 70 years old lady rocking out in the first row ... She is more metal than you"

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is currently taking part in the biggest European arena rock tour of the fall. They are on the road co-headlining with IN FLAMES and special guests OF MICE & MEN.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's follow-up to 2015's "Got Your Six" album is tentatively due in April or May of next year.

Prior to the arrival of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's new full-length disc, the band will release a greatest-hits collection, "A Decade Of Destruction", including two new tracks, "Trouble" and "Gone Away".

The hits collection and the already-completed new studio album are part of a deal to settle a legal dispute and close out the band's contract with its record company, Prospect Park.

Multi-platinum rock theater experience TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA (a.k.a. TSO) kicked off its fall 2017 U.S. tour this past Thursday night (November 16).

Fan-filmed video footage of the West Coast version of the tour performing at Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa can be seen below.

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA is on the road for the first time since the death of its creator, Paul O'Neill, who passed away on April 5 of an accidental prescription drug overdose. An official statement from O'Neill's family reported that the multi-instrumentalist died as a result of an "unexpected reaction" to prescription medication for his various ailments. And in July, TSO's longtime bassist David Zablidowsky died in a highway accident in Florida.

Al Pitrelli, the current West Coast musical director, told Deseret News: "On a professional note, we're out there and we're doing our job. It's better than it was last year, it's bigger than it was last year and last year was pretty good. So the trajectory is the same. I mean, on a personal level, oh gosh, every note that I play means a little bit more to me. 'Cause I'll be playing a song and it'll take me back to when we recorded it or when Paul would throw a pencil at me," Pitrelli said with a laugh. "There's a lot of history and a lot of memories that are running through my brain, but Paul taught me to compartmentalize things. I don't want to bring anything on stage that isn't going to make the show better. It'll be on the side of the stage waiting for me when I leave the stage. But while I'm on that stage, every note that I play will be a tribute to my best friend and the man who created this."

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA formed in 1996 out of the ashes of the Florida power metal band SAVATAGE and started touring three years later, connecting with fans by releasing a series of rock operas, such as 1996's "Christmas Eve And Other Stories", 1998's "The Christmas Attic" and 2004's "The Lost Christmas Eve". Over the past 20 years, it has become a critically acclaimed, multi-platinum, musical powerhouse. The progressive rock group's record-setting "rock theater" tours sell out venues year after year and they have cemented their status as a must attend, multi-generational, holiday tradition.

2016 was another record-breaking year for TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA (TSO). Proving that it is more popular on the road than ever before, TSO's winter tour 2016 sold the most tickets per show in the group's history, with a total in excess of 927,000. The tour also set a record gross for TSO with a total of more than $56.9 million.

20 years since the band's first album, and since its historic touring debut, TSO has played in excess of 1,800 shows for more than 14 million fans, with tour grosses of over $625 million, and sold in excess of 12 million albums and DVDs. In 2009, Billboard magazine placed TSO at #25 on its "Top Touring Artists Of The Decade."

For a list of tour dates, visit Trans-Siberian.com.

Classic NWOBHM outfit TRESPASS has released a new music video for the song "Momentum". A hard-rocking British metal song with an old-school '80s JUDAS PRIEST vibe, it is taken from TRESPASS's upcoming comeback album, "Footprints In The Rock", which will be released on January 12, 2018 via Mighty Music.

TRESPASS was formed in Sudbury, Suffolk, England in April 1979 by brothers Mark (guitar, vocals) and Paul Sutcliffe (drums), Dave Crawte (guitar) and Richard Penny (bass). Around this time, they started gigging around East Anglia, playing a mix of rock covers and original songs including early versions of "One Of These Days" and "Lightsmith".

Despite their fairly short-lived time on the metal scene, TRESPASS made a lasting impact. Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield of METALLICA remained fans since the very beginning and "One Of These Days" was featured on NWOBHM compilation "New Wave of British Heavy Metal '79 Revisited" put together by Ulrich and Geoff Barton in 1990.

TRESPASS played festivals in Europe in 2015 and 2016 and will be touring in 2018 in support of the upcoming album.

TRESPASS is:

Mark Sutcliffe - Guitar, Lead VocalsJason Roberts - DrumsDanny B - Bass Joe Fawcett - Guitar

"Make Them Bleed", the title track of the full-length debut from TERROR UNIVERSAL, the "horror metal" band featuring ILL NIÑO drummer Dave Chavarri (who also previously played with SOULFLY), can be streamed below. Due on January 19, 2018 via Minus Head Records, the disc will feature guest appearances by bassists John Moyer (DISTURBED, ART OF ANARCHY, ex-ADRENALINE MOB) and Tony Campos (FEAR FACTORY, MINISTRY, SOULFLY, STATIC-X). Campos appears on the track "Dead On Arrival", and Moyer can be heard on "Spines". Vocalist Plague says: "We hope everyone enjoys the title track from our new album, 'Make Them Bleed'. We chose to release this track first because it really captures the totally dark, heavy vibe that makes up TERROR UNIVERSAL and the entire album. It's a great taste of what's to come on the rest of the record, and we think you'll really like this track and it'll become part of your daily soundtrack. We're stoked to roll out this record for everyone leading up to the release date — we're really proud of it. Enjoy." You can pre-order "Make Them Bleed" right now via Bandcamp or via the band's PledgeMusic campaign. PledgeMusic pre-order incentives include digital download cards, signed CDs, limited-edition posters, t-shirts, stickers, limited edition blood-splatter vinyl, signed gear (including a guitar, drumhead and drum sticks), one-on-one music lessons, and more.

"Make Them Bleed" track listing:

01. Passage Of Pain02. Welcome To Hell03. Spines (feat. John Moyer)04. Make Them Bleed05. Through The Mirrors06. Dig You A Hole07. Dead On Arrival (feat. Tony Campos)08. Into Darkness09. Your Time Has Come10. Piece By Piece

Guitarist Ahrue Luster (ILL NIÑO; formerly of MACHINE HEAD), who played with TERROR UNIVERSAL in the early stages of the band, has not been involved with the group for over a year. TERROR UNIVERSAL is:

Vocals: PlagueDrums: MassacreGuitars: ThraxBass: Diabolus

KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy La Rocque spoke to Canada's The Metal Voice about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's long-awaited follow-up to 2007's "Give Me Your Soul … Please" album. "Well, we have some ideas, and we're gonna start seriously sitting down and start with new riffs and starting to write songs as soon as possible, I would say starting around New Year's with writing songs and stuff," he said. "That's the only thing I can say. And there will be a new album, of course. It's just that since 2012, we've been really busy doing the live shows, which has been really important for us, since before 2012, we didn't really do any festivals at all — I mean, maybe one or two in our whole career — so that was a new thing for us, doing festivals. And we've been really busy doing that. Planing that and practicing, rehearsing for all those shows we did in the last five, six years has taken a lot of time, of course, so we really haven't had time to sit down and just make a good album," he continued. "Plus, all the other things we've been doing, like remasters and now the DVD and all that stuff. So as soon as things get less hectic, we're gonna start writing a new album."

Andy said that he was "pretty sure" KING DIAMOND's next album would once again be a concept record. As for the disc's musical direction, the guitarist said: "I don't really know yet, because we don't really have the songs yet. Whatever comes to mind, I believe. It's probably gonna be a good mix of everything. Probably, I would say, a classic KING DIAMOND album, with a good sound."

According to Andy, he and KING DIAMOND's frontman and namesake will jointly produce the band's next album. "And then we'll see what's happening, depending on what way we're gonna go with it," he said. "But King's got his own home studio set up, so he's gonna record all the vocals back him, in his cellar — black and dark, of course, with spiders and bones and skulls."

Regarding a possible release date for KING DIAMOND's new disc, Andy said: "It's really hard to say. I mean, we have to write the songs first and record everything and take it from there. I don't really know. I can't say anything about that. Whenever it's done, it's gonna be released. It's really hard to say. But we've got some great ideas for it; that's all I can say right now."

La Rocque also talked about KING DIAMOND's much-anticipated DVD, which was filmed during the band's "Abigail In Concert" tour a couple of years ago. "I can't really say too much about it, because I'm not the only guy in charge here," he said. "We've got the video producer and I'm working with other stuff once in a while but as soon as I get the chance, I'm working on this and get the right mix. And we also have our live engineer in charge, who's been setting everything up to get a real live feel of everything. Then I've been working on some details there. And the video producers sent me some files we have to check out, make sure everything is in sync, back and forth, and we're still working on it. But I see the light in the tunnel kind of thing, because we're getting close with the first show, which is gonna be from Chile. So we're getting close there with that one. And then there are a few other things to go through. I mean, the only thing we can do is work, work, work on it until it gets good, because this is our first DVD ever released, and we wanna have it good — we want it to be representable for what we're doing.'

According to Andy, KING DIAMOND is "not gonna use any" early video footage on the upcoming DVD. "We're gonna use, from the last years, live shows. And there's gonna be some side footage too, I believe, but I'm not sure exactly what. But mainly from live shows from the 'Abigail' performances we did the last couple of years."

Andy added that the KING DIAMOND DVD should be released "next spring — if everything goes the way we want it."

The "Abigail In Concert 2015" tour saw KING DIAMOND performing the classic 1987 album "Abigail" in its entirety.

KING DIAMOND in 2002 released an album called "Abigail II: The Revenge", which was said to feature a storyline that was the sequel to the original "Abigail" LP.

The Los Angeles Committee of Human Rights Watch had their most successful fundraising dinner to date, raising more than every year prior.

The event, which took place Tuesday night (November 14) at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, had an immense amount of celebrities and influential people in attendance, including Eric Esrailian, Serj Tankian, Angela Sarafyan, Kimberly Marteau Emerson, Mike Medavoy, David Foster, Katherine McPhee and Linda Ramone. Tuesday night also introduced the inaugural Promise Award, followed by a very special performance by Ryan Tedder and Drew Brown of ONEREPUBLIC.

Inspired by the film and song that powerfully depicted the atrocities committed against the Armenian people; the award recognizes an outstanding song, television show, or film that advances the values of equity and justice in an original and powerful way. Fittingly, the inaugural honor was awarded to the late legendary singer and songwriter Chris Cornell in recognition of his song "The Promise". The award was presented by producers of "The Promise" Eric Esrailian, Mike Medavoy, writer/director Terry George, and singer/songwriter, human rights activist and composer Serj Tankian. Chris's wife, Vicky Cornell, accepted the award on his behalf and was accompanied by Cornell's bandmates, Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron of SOUNDGARDEN. Pioneering recording artist Chris Cornell, who sadly passed away in May, wrote the title song for the film, "The Promise", the first major film about the Armenian Genocide. The song and its video compellingly weave the Genocide with humanitarian crises of today. The song focuses on courage, perseverance, and hope — connecting us to emotions that characterize and amplify the worldwide struggle for human rights. Cornell donated all proceeds from the song to benefit refugees and children, and his song continues to inspire millions as an anthem for the human rights movement. "We are proud to name this award after 'The Promise', and present the inaugural award to Chris Cornell's inspiring song," stated Justin Connolly, director of Human Rights Watch's Los Angeles Committee.

Following the award, songwriter, Grammy Award-winning record producer and ONEREPUBLIC front man Ryan Tedder graced the stage and honored the late SOUNDGARDEN lead by performing an acoustic version of "The Promise" with bandmate Drew Brown to a standing ovation.

You can find photos from the event here.

Photos courtesy of BB Gun Press

FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl has paid touching tribute to Malcolm Young.

The AC/DC co-founder died earlier today (Saturday, November 18) surrounded by family after a long battle with dementia.

In a note posted on the FOO FIGHTERS Facebook page, the former NIRVANA drummer wrote: "37 years ago, my friend Larry Hinkle and I went to see a midnight movie on a Friday night at the Uptown Theater in Washington D.C. It was 1980. We were 11 years old. The movie was 'Let There Be Rock'. And it changed my life.

"That film, a live AC/DC performance from Paris [in] 1979, is everything that live [rock] and roll should be. Sweaty. Loose. Loud. A relentless performance from the perfect band. It was the first time I lost control to music. The first time I wanted to be in a band. I didn't want to play my guitar anymore, I wanted to smash it.

"Thank you, Malcolm, for the songs, and the feel, and the cool, and the years of losing control to your rock and roll. I will do just that tonight, for you.

"Malcolm Young RIP."

Malcolm Young struggled with the onset of dementia for a period of time prior to being admitted to full-time nursing care in Sydney, Australia beginning in 2014.

He was replaced in AC/DC by Stevie Young, nephew of Malcolm and AC/DC guitarist Angus Young.

Malcolm Young last performed live with AC/DC on tour in June 2010 at a concert in Bilbao, Spain.

Malcolm's death comes just weeks after his brother George Young, guitarist for THE EASYBEATS and AC/DC producer, died at age 70.

Malcolm is survived by his wife, two children and three grandchildren.

STRYPER finished recording all the basic tracks for its new album (everything except lead vocals and lead guitar solos) a few days ago. According to frontman Michael Sweet, "it went much faster than expected and it sounds absolutely killer! We were all just having fun making music again with a new spirit and attitude. It felt like 1985 all over again. There's a new groove to the music that has to be experienced, not described."

He continued: "We're all incredibly excited and feel that this may very well be the best album we've ever recorded. It's very special and has an energy unlike any other. We can't wait for you to hear it. April can't come soon enough."

Sweet recently told ListenIowa that both the title and the lyrics of the title track of STRYPER's follow-up to 2015's "Fallen" album will be "shocking" to STRYPER fans — "moreso than with 'To Hell With The Devil'. When people hear it, they're going to go, 'What? Can you tell me that again?'" he said. "A lot of the lyrics on the album have been kind of therapeutic, coming from the last two or three years." As for the music, he described it as "straight-up STRYPER and a little AC/DC and a little [JUDAS] PRIEST in a blender… It's an anthem with a straight-ahead, memorable, sing-along chorus, and people will be like, 'Yes!'"

STRYPER's upcoming album will be the band's first since the addition of former FIREHOUSE bassist Perry Richardson. Perry joined the band as the replacement for STRYPER's longtime bassist Tim Gaines, who was fired from the group earlier this year.

Gaines's exit from STRYPER had been rumored for months, ever since guitarist Oz Fox revealed that Tim was going through a divorce, forcing the group to take a hiatus and possibly consider a future without the bassist.

Gaines told KNAC.COM in August that "all hell broke loose" after he split up with his previous wife, "which is taboo as far as Christianity, I guess." He added: "I'm not the only guy in STRYPER to have gotten a divorce. Everybody in the band is married to divorced people. And I'm the bad guy, but everybody else has done it too, so? Whatever. Live in glass houses and everything will be exposed at some point or another."

A few days later, the remaining members of STRYPER released a statement denying that Gaines's divorce was a factor in their decision to part ways with the bassist and blaming Tim's "erratic and hostile behavior" for his dismissal from the group.

Jay Nanda of Alamo True Metal conducted an interview with members of industrial metal pioneers MINISTRY prior to the band's November 12 show at the Aztec Theatre in San Antonio, Texas. You can watch the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the band's forthcoming "AmeriKKKant" studio album:

Sin Quirin (guitar): "It's been done for several months. It was originally supposed to be out in October, but we recently signed to Nuclear Blast, and so now it's been pushed to first week of March. We're playing a couple of songs tonight off the new record. We're playing 'Antifa', which is going to be the first single off the record and we're playing a song called 'Wargasm' as well."

On working with MINISTRY leader Al Jourgensen:

Cesar Soto (guitar): "For me, it's pretty mind-blowing just to be on the stage with these dudes. It's a really tight unit. You'll be able to see tonight how tight the band has gotten. It's pretty mind-blowing; it's fucking awesome. What else can I say? Aside from being able to play with the best musicians you could possibly play with and come together as a unit and deliver every night, really, that's rewarding for me."

Tony Campos (bass, FEAR FACTORY, ex-STATIC-X): "Back in the STATIC days, the two bands we ripped off the most was MINISTRY and PRONG. To get to play in both of those bands is really cool. To get invited back and to do this again is really special. Just jamming with these guys, to get to do it again, is really fucking cool."

Sin: "It's funny because Tony and I go way back to the early Hollywood, L.A. scene where we were just local musicians before anybody had a record deal. We used to go to each other's shows and play with each other's bands. It would literally be like five people, counting the band members, watching each other play. This was the early '90s. The early-to-mid-'90s when we first started in the scene together. It's a trip to now be here and play with a band we both looked up to. Just being able to do this, it's still a trip."

On the challenges playing in MINISTRY provides:

John Bechdel (keyboards): "It is a real challenge. I've been doing live samples since the mid-'80s with bands. MINISTRY was the first time we had actually used a metronome or a click because all of the songs have these long samples that are timed out specifically, so if you're playing it at the wrong tempo, they won't line up. That was the first challenge. I started in '06 on the 'Rio Grande [Blood]' tour with [drummer] Joey Jordison [ex-SLIPKNOT]. He and I quickly had to learn how to work together and work with the click. That was a big challenge, learning all of the material all at once. I go back to being a MINISTRY fan. Like a lot of us, I heard 'I'm Falling' on the radio in 1983 and I bought the twelve-inch single which I still have. I met MINISTRY back in '91 when I was with KILLING JOKE and I got to know most of the guys. I met Al and I didn't get to know him too good until I joined the band. Working with him, I realized how much we had in common with our influences from the early '80s electronic music scene. We had to go through all the old MINISTRY archives, they were transferring all the original masters over in Pro Tools. It was a one-time process where the tape was destroyed in the process and being a part of that, also REVCO [REVOLTING COCKS] was on that '06 tour and I got to know those guys. We were digging through old boxes of DAT tapes and zip drives, just trying to find everything we could to make this all happen. It was a big undertaking."

On Jourgensen's decision to continue touring and making new albums with MINISTRY despite saying there would be no further albums after the death of longtime guitarist Mike Scaccia in 2012:

Sin: "After the last tour last year is when he was talking about wanting to do another record. The process, it changes from record to record. Sometimes we show up with ideas already kind of formed, but for this record, it was a lot of writing on the spot. He was pretty open to just different ideas. He didn't really have any 'Okay, I want it to be like this. I want it to be like that.' We definitely brought slower ideas, if that makes any sense, as opposed to just playing a thousand miles an hour like some of our early records. It was a bit more experimental and we brought different instruments into this record that I don't think people will be expecting to hear from us. It's definitely stuff that I don't think people are going to be expecting from a MINISTRY record, but it was pretty organic in that sense that we would show up and bring ideas and start tracking and see what we ended up with at the end of the day. We brought a couple of ideas that were in very basic forms and then just jumped from there. It was something that we might have worked on months earlier. It starts off one way and then by the time you're done with the song, it's completely different, but it started from an initial idea. That was the way we went about doing this record. It wasn't, 'Okay, I want you to write like this. I want you to write like that.' It was, 'Let's see what you got. Bring what you have to the table.' It was pretty cool. For me, it was really cool that we got so many people involved in this album. Other times, it would be just a couple of people that were doing things in the studio. For this, Cesar is on it, JB [John Bechdel] is on it, I'm on it, Al's over it. JB was saying there's a bunch of different things and other guest people that are on it as well. For me, Tony's on it as well, it felt more like a band effort, which was really cool."

"AmeriKKKant" will feature guest appearances by DJ Swamp (Beck), Burton C. Bell (FEAR FACTORY), Arabian Prince (N.W.A.) and Lord Of The Cello.

MINISTRY recently completed a North American tour with DEATH GRIPS as support.

Jorge Fretes of Spain's Goetia Media recently conducted an interview with AVENGED SEVENFOLD guitarist Zacky Vengeance. You can listen to the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether he pays attention to what the "haters" say about AVENGED SEVENFOLD:

Zacky: "To be honest, none of it has ever bothered me. We've been getting it since day one. The first review our band ever got when I was 17 years old and we had just released our first EP, and this tiny little magazine wrote a review on it and for that month, we were the best album of the month and we were also the worst album of the month. We won best and worst album of the month in the same magazine. Right then and there, I was so happy and thrilled because if people hate what you're doing, it means you're doing it right. It means you're in front of them, it means they have an opinion. Not everyone is going to love you. Not everyone is going to like what you do and you see a lot of people don't want to let go of the bands that they love. They don't want to move forward. They don't want to let new things come in; they're scared of change. They're scared of new bands taking over their genre. They're just scared of change. Those are the people that are the most vocal online and they bitch the most: 'Oh, this band sucks. They'll never be as good as so-and-so.' But the reality is we're headlining a lot of these festivals around the entire world and we're selling out concerts everywhere we go. We put out a surprise-release album [2016's 'The Stage'] that was considered one of our worst-selling albums and it was still one of the biggest rock albums of the entire year in the entire world and that was our worst album. I think as long as people have a strong opinion, whether they love or hate us, I think we're doing something right."

On whether he thinks AVENGED SEVENFOLD can replace the likes of BLACK SABBATH and SCORPIONS as festival headliners:

Zacky: "It's hard to say. We're very, very fortunate to be able to play these shows that we are playing. But it's important for a band like us to go out there and put on the best show that we can. That means blow stuff up and play loud and give the fans their money's worth. It really needs to be a show. It's taken a lot of these bands their careers to get to the level that they're at. IRON MAIDEN and METALLICA are bigger now than they ever were. They're playing stadiums across the entire planet. Even though it seems like their heyday was back when MTV and the radio played their songs all the time, the truth is that they've gotten bigger now because they play all the time and people know they're going to get a great show. You get different generations. You have dads bringing their dads and people bringing their own sons and entire families coming to the concerts. That's why there's so many people. For us, we're still young. We need to go out there and give it everything we have and play the best we can. I believe that if we're able to persevere and have the longevity of some of these classic bands, then hopefully someday we'll have the same sort of legacy that they do."

On whether he ever writes music that isn't suitable for AVENGED SEVENFOLD:

Zacky: "Absolutely. All the time. The one great thing about AVENGED SEVENFOLD is that our style is so unique. We can always add or incorporate different crazy music. It's not just thrash metal or just hard rock. We're able to incorporate all sorts of styles of music and that's great for me. But on top of it, I love punk rock and when I go and see a band like BAD RELIGION, I think to myself, 'Wow, that would be so fun to start a punk band just for fun.' Or, I've always loved really mellow, almost sad music, just acoustic guitar, and I always write songs like that at home just for fun. Maybe someday I'll put some of it out. But it's hard because when you're known for being in a band like AVENGED SEVENFOLD and having some success, you're instantly judged. Whereas if I was just 18 years old and no one ever heard of me, I could write these songs and put them out to the world and no one would have any expectation. But now because of who I am and where our band is at, it's really hard to release music without everyone judging it for something that it's not."

AVENGED SEVENFOLD will release a "deluxe edition" of "The Stage" on December 15.

The band's 2018 North American arena headlining tour will kick off January 12 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville with special guests BREAKING BENJAMIN and BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE. The trek will be North America's introduction to the electrifying "Stage" spectacle that drew rave reviews in Europe.